Saturday, December 07, 2013

2013: the writing year in review

Every year toward the end of it, I get sort of contemplative in terms of what I've accomplished writing-wise and what I need to do in the new year and to set some some goals. I'm realizing as I go through my records, that this year has been a busier year than the few previous in terms of publications and productivity. In 2012 I barely submitted anything (outside of solicited work) and only published two sets of poems, one text-heavy zine project, and one e-chap. In 2013, however, I submitted to 14 journals and had 8 acceptances, released two chapbooks (one print, one electronic) and one full-length projects (well, as soon as girl show is out it will be two.) There was one anthology, four interviews, one round table, five local readings, and a smattering of reviews. I finished several short series of work, put together a new longer manuscript, and started a couple of new poem projects that I plan on finishing in 2014.

While it seemed chaotic as it was happening, surprsingly his last year has seemed a good balance of writing-focused work and po-biz work, two things which perpetually feel at odds (ie when I'm writing I find I can't get my shit together to submit anything and when I'm gung-ho on submissions, it's usually because I'm looking for distractions while the ink isn't flowing.) There are years that have weighed heavier one way of the other. It seems my ambitions seem to take two separate paths that I have a hard time straying from one into the other.

I'm thinking the zine project series will keep me along the creative path permanently (hopefully, at least), so my submissions and business-of-writing work, may take a backseat, so I'm looking into making a list of journals the next couple of weeks so I can just look at it and send things rather than doing all the research further down the road. With a couple of my favorite print journals aside that I love having/would love to have work in, I'm mostly interested in online venues and feel like they suit my needs a little bit more. (bigger audiences, linkability, etc.) I've been bookmarking journals on my laptop all afternoon through about four cups of tea and think I have a good list, so watch out 2014, I'm coming for you.

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A writer and book artist working in both text and image, Kristy Bowen is the author of a number of chapbook, zine, and artists book projects, as well as six full-length collections of poetry/prose/hybrid work, including the recent SALVAGE (Black Lawrence Press, 2016) and MAJOR CHARACTERS IN MINOR FILMS (Sundress Publications, 2015). She lives in Chicago, where she runs dancing girl press & studio and spends much of her time writing, making papery things, and editing a chapbook series devoted to women authors. She currently works in the library of an arts college, where she oversees the reserve collection and co-curates The Aesthetics of Research, a project devoted to the intersection of libraries and the arts. Her seventh book, LITTLE APOCALYPSE, is due out from Noctuary Press in 2018.
www.kristybowen.net